VTOL aircraft may be based on several classes of ships or aboard vehicles. Since these aircraft utilize vertically oriented jet engines for vertical take-off, they exhaust heated gases at elevated temperatures. These high temperatures can be a hazard to nearby personnel and can cause damage to the deck of a ship. Accordingly, means must be found to either retrofit a ship with heat-resistant launch and recovery platform or auxiliary heat-resistant plates must be placed over the deck. The aircraft with a vertically vectored thrust lift engine, if in close proximity to the deck, can experience a phenomenon called "suck down" which reduces significantly the lifting effects of the engine. The container of the invention includes an exhaust that is part of the unfolded container which mitigates that effect.
A separate problem concerns the crating of VTOL aircraft for shipment from a land-based site to the ship. This can be done in a crate, after outer wing portions of the aircraft are either folded or removed and stored in the crate. Of course, once the aircraft is delivered on board ship, there is the problem of storing the aircraft and protecting it from damage by sea, storm, accident, sabotage, or enemy attack. Separate adequate hangar facilities would therefore be necessary.